Look, people, whatever moral high ground you choose to seize in the wake of the Rambo/Ogletree suspensions, can we please keep specious bullshit like this out of the conversation?
… Players at other schools get suspended, yes, but they have the leadership from the top, for Alabama for example, that a slap on the wrist probably won’t come the second time. When the coach is known as no nonsense, like Nick Saban is, there is little room for misdeeds off the field.
The reason I ask is because… well, it’s not exactly unknown in Tuscaloosa. Although at least Calloway knew better than to be caught dealing. That’s progress of a sort, right?
And as for “Teams that win championships don’t have guys getting into the same situations repeatedly”, no doubt that will come as a surprise to many in Gainesville, Florida.
Get The Picture 
Speaking of specious bullshit, the other stuff I’ve heard today is too.
“Richt is just like Bobby Bowden, and he allows his players to be out of control.”
“No one repects or fears Richt, that’s why they keep smoking dope and getting in trouble.”
“Our drug policy is too tough, we’re just doing it to ourselves.”
“These players are obviously idiots who don’t care about Georgia.”
Enough already. This sucks for the fans and the players and the team. Could we stop with the histrionics, though?
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Have to agree completely with the Senator & SCDawg.
A lot (most) of the comments are not worth the time I spent reading them.
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Is it a yearly problem though with other high caliber teams? It sure seems like this is Groundhog Day with only our program. When was the last time we opened a football year with no suspensions?
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I think the Senator and the Fulmer Cup both show us that it is a problem at other high caliber schools…
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You must have misread something. Try reading the post again.
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I don’t think I mis-read anything. I realize the Senator gave links for UF/UA suspensions, but are those yearly? Am I the only one who thinks this happens on a repeating basis moreso than other programs especially at the beginning of a football season? We don’t have to win the fulmer cup to continue a trend of suspensions anually. Just need to have one less than the other team…
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Here’s the thing: ‘Bama doesn’t suspend for the first controlled substance violation and it doesn’t release information on internal discipline issues. So there’s no way to know what’s going on there.
As for Florida, I’m not sure what you’re failing to pick up on there. 30+ arrests over a five-year period looks pretty repeating to me. And don’t forget that’s just arrests, not internal problems.
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida tight end A.C. Leonard, suspended indefinitely following his arrest on a domestic battery charge last month, has been reinstated.
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I’m sure I’ll use this in an argument with a UF fan somewhere, but the truth is, if he’s met some appropriate benchmarks, and done what the coaches have asked of him, shown remorse and truly learned from this then who am I to say whether he should remain on their team? I think we should all not be so quick to judge.
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Point taken with UF and Bama, Senator. All schools have their share of arrests with football players. I don’t believe anyone can deny that. A quick glance at the Fulmer Cup standings will prove that.
My main point was our suspensions seem to be at the BEGINNING of the season moreso than during. Maybe its the same with other schools. Being a UGA fan I, of course, don’t follow other schools as closely to notice theirs.
BTW, I’m not bashing Richt. Just pointing out an anecdotal trend I have noticed over the past several years. It’s the players that are the ones to blame. The problems fall on their shoulders squarely. I don’t know how you fix it as no there is no disciplinary action one could suggest to prevent this from happening 100% of the time.
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Now this is a valid comment that makes a point.
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not to mention that in gainesville driving on a suspended license isnt an arrest, it is a ticket. In Athens you get arrested. Arrests are public record. Tickets arent. So when Corch had 30 arrests and 30 driving on suspended license tickets, it makes the comparison to UGA even worse.
It is now on McGarity to push for an even playing field on drug testing policies from the SEC or change our policy.
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Ease up, Senator.You’re just confusing him with facts. Plus, he was told there would be no math on this blog.
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Umm Ohio St., USC, Florida, South Carolina. Those are just the ones I can think of in the past few years. These so called Georgia fans that rip into Richt every chance they get makes me sick. People, UGA and Kentucky are the only 2 schools in the conference that suspend players for the first drug occurence. Other schools dont even test the kids. For some reason we test kids right when they come back from spring break. If anything I would like to see Richt loosen this rule. College kids smoke pot…Period. The music they listen to condones drug use. Its even legal in some states. There is no way he can keep a leash on 100 different kids.
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Whoaa. I thought the NCAA was doing “random” testing, not Richt.
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You already know that I advocate lessened penalties for pot. It should e legalized and treated like booze.
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She has no idea that she just confessed to the world that she has no idea.
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Saban would give them medical scholarships for their glaucoma to free up roster space.
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+1
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Thank goodness everything’s under control in Gainesville –
“Saunders was represented by Gainesville attorney Huntley Johnson, who handles almost all arrests of Gators football players.”
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/gators/another-florida-gators-marijuana-incident-comes-to-light-1696140.html
http://www.alligator.org/sports/track/article_e61d2a5c-b344-11e0-a283-001cc4c002e0.html
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After this hysteria dies down, we will all realize that football is just a game and there is our life out there with our own struggles.
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And those talking about the downfall of Richt and UGA football have no clue to what they are saying and just a bunch of naysayers likely sympathetic to other schools. They are just say those suff to add fuel to the fire, agitate the fan base and get hits on their web sites. I believe this statement 100% and will standby it.
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Why not move the start of spring practice to the same time as spring break. If the guys act reckless, then they will be treated accordingly.
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Im sure that will help bring in recruits.
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As I have said previously, the whole state of Alabama is gamed. Excusing the football players for things that earn suspensions at Georgia, or just plain hiding the offenses, is just a small part of it.
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Players at all of the SEC schools are smoking weed. Yes, even at Alabama.
I don’t understand why world-class type athletes would smoke pot, but it happens. Coaches deal with is bases on their policies – and some coaches probably with their policies are double what they are.
The difference between UGA and Alabama isn’t that one team’s players smoke less dope. It’s that UGA’s position of supposed moral authority makes the public think this shouldn’t be happening under Richt. This position of supposed moral authority also likely leads to a stricter policy for drug related suspensions.
I doubt there are very many coaches that want their players smoking dope or hanging out with dope dealers (even if they smoke weed themselves). So they set a policy that will hopefully not snare the masses.
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From my typing, it looks like I’m smoking weed.
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I guess Nick will expect you to submit to internal discipline. Or at least, give you a stern talking to, or maybe a pointed look.
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I don’t think the tougher policy is really Richt’s idea. I think it has a lot more to do with Adams the school president. He is the one who pushed for not calling the WLOCP by that name. There are other things I could bring up but most UGA fans already know about them. I do not object to the stricter rules that I do think that in some ways it puts us at a slight disadvantage, I am just saying that I believe they are mostly his idea.
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Well I do object to “the stricter rules” exactly because they do put UGA at a disadvantage. This is just another manifestation of the mindset of the Administration/coaching staff that puts millstones around the program’s neck yet still expects wins over top-flight programs that are not so encumbered. See my previous posts on the subject of the creation of artificial barriers.
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Bryant: I sincerely wish you could show me some reporting on transgressions and punishment by Alabama players. It’s not so I can say nyah nyah. It’s so I can disabuse muself of the notion that Alabama sweeps things under the rug.
I don’t think it’s Georgia’s faux higher moral authority. I think it’s Alabama’s lack of it.
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OK… that’s a heady accusation – that the University of Alabama is immoral. One I’ve honestly not heard leveled before.
As for suspensions, Alabama has 3 receivers suspended RIGHT NOW. They’re not players of Rambo’s caliber to be sure, but suspensions happen. They do everywhere.
They seem to happen less under Saban here at Alabama. My guess is that’s potentially related to players’ desire to stay out of the doghouse. The conditioning program at Alabama is fierce, and even small infractions are met with serious, painful physical training (stadium steps, etc.).
Bama’s players, since the unfortunate Jimmy Johns incident referenced by the Senator, have managed to avoid major run ins with the law (I’m knocking wood as I write this). Saban would tell you he’s gone out of his way to recruit better kids – I don’t know if this is the case or not.
I could also point at our basketball team as a place where suspensions WERE an issue this year. That, I suppose, would point to a less than amoral athletic department.
Kids are kids. If I got arrested for every dumb/illegal thing I did while I was in college… well, let’s just say in that period of time between 18 and 22, people do dumb, irresponsible things.
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Also, Robby Green was kicked off the team before the 2010 season. That was also a time when we were really counting on him at safety. I don’t know exactly why he was kicked off, but rumors are it was drug related.
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“I don’t understand why world-class type athletes would smoke pot…”
Because it gets you high. It’s the same reason everyone else does it.
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And because a lot of their non-athlete college friends and girlfriends are doing it. Why doesn’t the University test those kids, too? I’d like to test Mike Adams after a long weekend to see just what he had been consuming.
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Exactly, BD.
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Tennessee players put an off-duty cop in the hospital. What were the total suspensions on that? I forgot.
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I think it was the same as Senator Blutarsky’s grade point average: Zero point zero.
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As pointed out by one of the posters on Tanika”s article the real story is NOT that Ga players get disciplined . If this vacuous bimbo had a brain she would realize that the real journalistic story would be an investigation into why all these other schools don’t have their stars in trouble. We all know that there are multiple reasons regarding who and when they test and in a semi-related matter it has to do with Georgia’s 5 day response time on open records requests and Alabama’s 2 year response time.P.S. Legalize it and tax it,
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What is up dbag?
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Rambo should get reduced to 2 games, if that. Sounds like a stretch when its your 2nd offense but the same thing has happened to more than one person i know
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As I understand Rambo’s suspension last year, it was for having a passenger in his car charged with possession, NOT a failed drug test – this would be his FIRST failed drug test and therefore a one game suspension ( or maybe two because it’s his second ‘infraction’ not 2nd failed drug test )
In any event, it’s all speculation on our part. We won’t know what we know until we know it, and even then, we probably won’t know it…
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I think a lot of Rambo and Ogletree’s 2-4 game talk has to do with the fact that neither of them failed a drug test in the past but each has been suspended in the past. It will be more than the 1 game required for a + drug test because of that but not as much as the 50% of the season required for a second fail. That is my guess anyways. I do like that Richt while not wasting time deciding punishment also doesn’t let public opinion force him into rushing a decision until he believes he has all the facts. Another thing to consider is whether Rambo really did confess first or was it right before the test that he suddenly decided to tell the “truth”.
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